Flight

February 18, 1911

Frenchman Henri Pequet makes the first official air mail delivery in Allahabad, British India, moving 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away. Ooh-la-la!

February 9, 1969

This date was the first test flight of the Boeing 747. Interesting that they chose the same date 6 years after the first test flight of the Boeing 727. I can’t find if this was purposeful or a coincidence? Does anybody that works at Boeing have any info on this?

February 9, 1963

The first flight of the Boeing 727 occurred on this date. For over a decade, it was the most produced commercial jet aircraft in the world.

January 21, 1976

Commercial service of the Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes. The only commercial supersonic jet, the Concorde could travel between New York and London in about 3.5 hours. The Concorde flew commercially for 27 years until being retired on November 26, 2003.

January 18, 2005

The Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial jet and nicknamed the “Superjumbo”, is unveiled at a ceremony in Toulouse, France.

January 18, 1911

Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania stationed in San Francisco harbor, the first time an aircraft landed on a ship.

January 12, 1970

The Boeing 747, the original “Jumbo Jet”, makes its maiden flight. The 747 was the first wide-body airliner, first to use the twin-aisle concept, and the first airliner to use high bypass turbofan engines.

January 11, 1935

Amelia Earhart becomes the first person, man or woman, to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

January 10, 1912

Glenn Curtiss flies the first flying boat, a pusher with a canard surface.

October 24, 2003

The Concorde supersonic jet makes its last commercial flight. While being able to cross the Atlantic in about 3.5 hours, low passenger numbers and rising maintenance costs made operating the Concorde unprofitable for British Airways and Air France.